WootBot

Today marks the Wine.Woot blogging debut of Alison Smith, National Buyer for our wine pals at Wine Country Connect. She’s been lurking since the Pellegrini deal - soaking up, learning, getting a feel. "Lioco’s mine, let me get in there." Winedavid 39, not in any hurry, wants to be sure. "Once you cross the rubicon of the woot forums you can never go back, you’re not ready." "But I’ve been here at Wine Country Connect for four months, not to mention a sterling reputation after 8 years of hard labor in the trenches of traditional ultrapremium wine sales. Let me release the hounds!" WD39 finally gives in with a sigh. "OK, TexaCalAli... introduce yourself with a blog post. But you’ve been warned..."

I'm just starting out here, but I’m guessing there are Wooters who love KILLER music as much as they love good wine and their big screen monitors... Right? I was hard at work last week spreading the Woot! love to one of the hottest music tours crossing America this year.

A couple of Thursdays ago, Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, and Old Crow Medicine Show embarked on a tour unlike any in recent memory: "Traveling exclusively in vintage rail cars, the three bands will journey across the American Southwest over the course of a week. The aptly titled Railroad Revival Tour features the three bands playing concerts at six unique outdoor locations along the route."

I was quick to step up when my dear pals from Austin who were in charge of the F&B for the Railroad Revival Tour told me "hey we need wine to stock the train bar car for the bands and guests for the 8 day tour." And I have just enough audacity being the new kid and all to ask Winedavid 39 for the good stuff – and SHAZAM!, TexaCali Ali to the rescue...

The Tour kicked off in Oakland, California last Thursday. Mother Nature was enjoying the show too, one of the most beautiful nights I've ever seen in NorCal. The location of the concert was in the train yards almost under the East Bay side of the Bay Bridge. 8,000 fans plus all the bands saw the most glorious sunset over San Francisco, blue skies with streaks of orange and pink for hours. Mind blowing GORGEOUS!

Upon arrival I received a long walk-through of the train, for the most part, each of the compartments were old & classy, the air felt like Cary Grant was going to turn a corner at anytime. The Chefs were hard a work getting ready for a feast after the show and old-school bartenders were busy helping to situate the wines as well.

Stan (pictured on the couch here) owns the circa 1941 railroad car that holds the old-timey western bar - which also had handfuls of instruments for the guys to pick up and play at anytime. A big toast @ midnight was scheduled as soon as the train pulled away for their next depot - San Pedro - outside of LA. So ALL ABOARD - the Monkey 2nd Prize corks would soon be pulled and "assist" in the late-night creativity over the next 8 days for all those wine-sippin' magical musicians along the way.

The entire vibe of the night was so freakin' happy. So many smiles, laughter and hugs backstage. It was quite a feat for these three bands to create such a grand tour and everyone from the drummers to their little kids dancing on stage were having a total blast. It was so great to watch the bands from backstage, side stage, inside the train and best of all during the encore set – literally right on the stage (see what the good, good wine can do? !) with this group of magical musicians. Fantastic Fun & one EPIC night for all! Proud to have our Monkey Hooch partake in the historic Railroad Revival Tour - every single review from the likes of Rolling Stone Magazine to the Huffington Post have sung the concert's praises and are demanding more! I wish I could have fit inside a bottle of wine and gone along for the ride too...lucky bottles indeed.

MarkDaSpark

Oh man ... Welcome! Although you could have warned us so we could welcome you at each stop!!

My nephew & his SO went to see Mumford & Sons at the San Pedro stop. If I'd known you were there, I would have tried to go over as well.

And we met at the Scott Harvey booth at the Pasadena Family Winemakers. And since I think that was your blurry image walking in the one picture, I think the wineaux would like a good look at you!

x20

Someone has to put WD's kids thru college, but why does it have to be me! *This post is for purposes of enabling only, and does not constitute any promise of helping pay for said enabling. It does indicate willingness to assist in drinking said wine.

Cesare

-il CesareSole Absolute Triple
Exalted High Tastemaster Supreme
“In the entire world there are only a few sounds that bring joy to all but the most jaded. One is the murmur of a kitten purring. Another is the thwack of a well-pitched baseball hitting a perfectly swung bat. And the third is the pop of a cork being pulled from a bottle of wine.” —George Taber

richardhod

Indeed Alison, we hope to hear your opinions good And bad on many things! Please do tell us why you drink a lot of Davis, for starters! (apart from the fact that you like it, and are not on a 12-step, obviously! ;)

texacaliali

Indeed Alison, we hope to hear your opinions good And bad on many things! Please do tell us why you drink a lot of Davis, for starters! (apart from the fact that you like it, and are not on a 12-step, obviously! ;)

thanks Richard you are such a good read, I've enjoyed your wine knowledge. It's been painful not to pipe in over the months, although fun reading the boards all the day long...

A few reasons I am such a big DFV fan. 1 - Guy's one of the coolest, most passionate and super humble winemakers I've ever met over the years. We talk about "passionate winemaking" a lot in the biz, but I must admit - Guy's attention and total devotion to his vineyards and quality in the cellar is mind-blowing. He's not taking any shortcuts or skimping on quality. Also, he's making wine he loves to drink too.

I've had the pleasure of knowing DFV since 2005 and can honestly say there hasn't been a bottle that I haven't enjoyed. Even that darn-delicious Barn D'Or Cab/Syrah blend - goes really well with anything on the BBQ!

For years now I've opened a few bottles of his Pinot Noir at Thanksgiving along with some killer Burgs, the DFV wines are always the first to empty. These wines sell-out each year, so very happy to see the access here on Wine.Woot!

texacaliali

I caught the Railroad Revival Tour in Austin last week. I didn't realize they were being propelled by Woot Wine at the time, but now it makes so much sense since they put on an amazing show.

I'm so jealous you got to tour the train from the inside.

ahh, the Austin show - heard is was AMAZING! The RRT kick-off in Oakland was one of the most thrilling concerts of my life. Grateful for the experience. The Woot Cellars Monkey 2nd Prize was most likely guzzled up by the Marfa stop...was very well received!

woopdedoo

Hope you like it here. Not necessarily the high brow set, but all of the wine wooters I have had the pleasure of meeting (mostly tour-ists) are certainly some of the nicest super premium (also eclectic with a pinch of geekiness) group of people you will ever want to meet.

gregorylane

Hope you like it here. Not necessarily the high brow set, but all of the wine wooters I have had the pleasure of meeting (mostly tour-ists) are certainly some of the nicest super premium (also eclectic with a pinch of geekiness) group of people you will ever want to meet.

...and OCD. Don't forget OCD. There's a bunch that have OCD.

There is really no point in trying to explain liberty to people who don't understand what it means.
rpm-2012

joelsisk

nifty post! well, the post wasn't as nifty as the content, but you get the drift. Welcome and hope to hear more from you in the future... not just in the wootbot posts, but the main threads and pub and such!

SonomaBouliste

Welcome to the abyss Ali. It was a pleasure finally getting to meet you recently when you and WineDavid came by with "Uncle" boghog. He is truly one of the finest gentlemen I have met in my life, and a pleasure to have as a business associate and friend.

MarkDaSpark

Someone has to put WD's kids thru college, but why does it have to be me! *This post is for purposes of enabling only, and does not constitute any promise of helping pay for said enabling. It does indicate willingness to assist in drinking said wine.

texacaliali

jhkey wrote:Welcome Texacaliali! Glad to have you!
Old Crow kicks some ass! For any bluegrass fans, a definite show to check out!

awesome! Thanks for the welcome. Have you opened any of those LIOCO single vineyard designate bottles yet? I am trying to get my hands on a few bottles of their 2010 Rose - they made enough for about 10 people to enjoy.

texacaliali

alexa84 wrote:well now I'm even more annoyed I couldn't get a weekend night off to go see Mumford & Sons when they were in town.... hope the wine.woot/music connect keeps up, Ali! & welcome

ah, that bites you couldn't make it. Seriously one of the top shows I've ever been to! Weirdly the music scene appears randomly into my wine-world. A few summers ago I received a last minute call that the guys from Journey requested Davis Family Vineyards wines backstage during their tour through Texas. That was a fun "chore"!

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